The Fibonacci quantity sequence is a discovery of arithmetic and nature that has each amazed and confounded the scientific neighborhood for hundreds of years. Essentially, the sequence is a set of numbers through which every is the sum of the 2 previous numbers. This creates a fast-growing record of numbers which have one other distinctive attribute: when plotted round a central level, the Fibonacci sequence creates an ideal spiral.
Anybody who works with numbers is aware of that they will do a whole lot of fascinating issues in case you make up completely different constraints. However the Fibonacci sequence wasn’t invented as a lot because it was found and it describes how nature shapes itself by a wide range of strategies.

The petals of a rose are organized within the Fibonacci sequence (picture courtesy Cumba Meillandina/Wikipedia)
Probably the most evident instance of that is the numerous cases of Fibonacci spirals present in vegetation: leaves, branches, stems, roots, petals, seeds are sometimes discovered to make use of the Fibonacci sequence to direct the mobile and macroscopic patterns of progress. It leads to a mean of 137.5-degree spacing that optimizes house and makes certain that petals, branches, and leaves are by no means fully masking these under.
The Fibonacci sequence is so prevalent in nature that many consider it says one thing concerning the underlying construction of the universe and physics that so many issues find yourself displaying this sample. The connection between two adjoining numbers on the sequence, particularly as soon as greater than 21, converges intently on the golden ratio, a exact and irrational quantity ratio discovered inside geometry that’s thought of one of many jewels of arithmetic.
A phenomenal instance of the Fibonacci sequence could be seen within the petals of a rose, which completely spiral out from the middle to create a lush blossom. Even when the rose withers, the petals turn into squarer and fewer rounded, creating one more spiral however this time an oblong sample that holds true to the identical ratio.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée
This floral sample is the inspiration for the gorgeous engraving on the brand new Parmigiani La Rose Carrée, a masterfully restored grande sonnerie minute repeater pocket watch made to rejoice the twenty-fifth anniversary of the model and launched to mark the seventieth birthday (in 2020) of the model’s founder and grasp restorer, Michel Parmigiani.
Parmigiani La Rose Carrée
The Parmigiani La Rose Carrée is constructed round a novel, one-off motion acquired by Michel Parmigiani within the late Nineteen Nineties, one created by grand complication grasp Louis-Elisée Piguet. The motion had been given a serial quantity, however was by no means cased or attributed to a shopper or a model. It was a creation with no residence.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée case element
In the present day it has discovered a model, a case, and an aesthetic outlined largely by a few of the core ideas of arithmetic and geometry. The watch itself is a really clear and easy three-handed show with offset seconds, a dial constituted of jet-black onyx, and the hours and minutes chiming at each quarter hour and high of the hour. A full minute repeater on demand can also be included.
The main focus, apparently, isn’t particularly on the actual fact it’s a grande sonnerie however fairly that it’s a mechanical murals, mixed with a bunch of different artisanal crafts that create a multisensory expertise. The texture of the watch and the extremely difficult-to-produce chain with sq. diamond-shaped hyperlinks, the look of the masterful engraving and enameling on the outer case, and the sound of the 120-year-old grande sonnerie mix to make the viewer instantly conscious that this can be a particular object within the grand scheme of issues. It’s like stumbling throughout a misplaced masterpiece from the previous world but additionally being current to see it in all of its contemporary glory.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée crown
This comes from the Parmigiani’s dedication to every side of the watch – case, dial, motion, chain, and ornament – making every space a star in its personal proper. Besides, it’s clear that the celebrities of the already star-studded present are the hunter covers on the pocket watch and the terrifically restored and embellished Louis-Elisée Piguet Caliber 5802.
Design at its core
The La Rose Carrée pocket watch has a full double-sided hunter case offering ample room for adornment, and a formidable reveal of the grand sonnerie motion inside. The expert craftspeople at Les Artisans Boîtiers – which is owned by the Parmigiani group – made the case, an enormous 64 millimeters of white gold. It’s a becoming canvas for extra unimaginable artwork and a house for Caliber 5802.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée, engraved and enameled covers back and front
The 2 massive covers on both sides of the watch are the primary place we discover the inspiration for La Rose Carrée in hand-engraving and high-fire enamel. The extremely gifted engraver Eddy Jaquet (additionally recognized from his collaboration with MB&F on the LM Break up Escapement Jules Verne) put his arms to the duty of engraving the covers and the motion with a design by Anne-Marie Moser. The designer mixed the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio, and the great thing about a wilting squared rose, turning them into one thing worthy of the motion and the anniversary.
The Rose Carrée (“squared rose”) design was born with an ideal geometric spiral underpinning one other Fibonacci spiral of successively bigger engravings of the squared rose design. These geometric rose designs are themselves representations of the Fibonacci spiral, making for a triple spiral on the surface of the case.
Much more tough, the 2 covers are symmetrically mirrored in order that when they’re open, they current a visually balanced show. Surrounding the principle engraved inserts, the bezels function an outer ring of miniature squared rose designs glowing like diamonds at a distance, however when examined up shut reveal the gorgeous talent and great thing about the engravings.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée
Jaquet’s massive engravings had been then despatched to grasp enameller Vanessa Lecci, who utilized a beautiful layer of translucent blue oven-fired enamel. The quantity of depth and pure shading that comes from the mixture of engraving and enameling attracts you into the geometric world depicted. The blue represents water as seen from the sky, with advanced patterns of the waves and the gradations of blue as depth modifications.
Apparently, that depth and texture is straight away swapped if you open the entrance cowl and see the pure black onyx dial, completely polished and imperfection free (a really tough activity for a bit of onyx that measurement). The dial is saved elegantly easy with sq., polished markers for the hours and a easy polished ring for the offset subdial for seconds. The arms are skeletonized Delta shapes, the one element on the dial facet extra difficult than the naked minimal, including a layer of delicateness to this facet of the pocket watch.
Louis-Elisée Piguet Caliber 5802: the motion is the star
However the facet reverse the dial is the extra gorgeous reveal. Contained in the hand-engraved cowl rests the 120-year-old Louis-Elisée Piguet Caliber 5802, which was made between 1989 and 1904 and painstakingly restored by hand in Parmigiani’s restoration workshop by Francis Rossignol and Christie Girel. Because it was a novel motion and usually completed when Piguet initially made it, the ornament selections had been restricted to what wouldn’t danger altering the tolerances for the motion.

The Piguet motion of La Rose Carrée earlier than (left) and after Parmigiani restored it
Finally it was determined that the motion bridges can be hand-beveled (with out messing up as a result of they don’t have simply swappable alternative elements) and all surfaces hand-engraved by Jaquet to showcase the identical geometric sample used within the spirals on the case. Each the squared rose particulars and the oblong chevron shapes are on each bridge and plate floor (the place attainable).

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée: motion engraved by Eddy Jaquet
This leads to your complete motion having an unimaginable geometric texture; in essence, the artisans took a motion that’s greater than a century previous and made it really feel extremely fashionable and timeless on the similar time. The superior ratchet wheels for the mainsprings and sonnerie function a sunburst brushing, whereas the clicks, springs, screws, hammers, and numerous different parts acquired good black sprucing.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée with hunter case open
The presentation is sort of surprising within the context of the case, partially as a result of it’s introduced as if it had been a jewel. The case has a concave bezel surrounding the sapphire crystal sealing the motion.
Due to this, the motion feels as if the case has been gently draped round it (one thing seen on different nice watches like these by A. Lange & Söhne) and helps it come out from the central case. It additionally permits a transparent view into the motion and the gongs encircling the perimeter of the motion, which have been given loads of house to chime.
The double hunter covers are the perfect selection for such a watch as they make the expertise of seeing the motion a high precedence.
Holistic expertise
The case, its covers, the dial, and the motion all play extraordinarily nicely collectively to make this a very exceptional finale for Parmigiani’s silver jubilee. It additionally reveals that the model leaves no element unconsidered. The chain is a good instance of this: a pocket watch is nearly synonymous with a series, so it’s of no shock that La Rose Carrée comes with one. However the design of this pocket watch considers every thing, and the geometric inspiration discovered all around the case and motion unsurprisingly made its solution to the chain.
The final full-time specialist watch chain maker in Switzerland, Laurent Joliet, was tasked with making an extremely difficult-to-fabricate diamond-shaped chain. This can be a way more tough proposition than almost every other model of chain as a result of every particular person hyperlink should be fastidiously formed and soldered collectively from 4 particular person sections to type an ideal sq. from sq. segments. This results in 16 particular person corners that have to be crisp and clear for every hyperlink.

Parmigiani La Rose Carrée with its chain made by Laurent Joliet
The variety of hyperlinks and complexity of the chain leads to over 600 corners that needed to be good in any other case the chain wouldn’t flex and twist appropriately. On high of that, the chain slowly tapers towards the top, so every hyperlink is successively smaller. The end result speaks for itself because the chain is a wonderfully suited companion for La Rose Carrée. It additionally makes the whole lot of the presentation completely coordinated from finish to finish.
The case, motion, chain, and ornament mix to make a press release about design and arithmetic, all from the need to rejoice 25 years as a model. Whereas it’s a distinctive piece and positively not fitted to on a regular basis put on for the conventional watch lover, the truth that it acquired made within the first place is each a tribute to and a sign of the expert and passionate craftspeople that gravitate towards Parmigiani.

The onyx dial of Parmigiani’s La Rose Carrée
Now my important hope is that the following time I’m in Switzerland I will probably be fortunate sufficient to have just a few moments with this momentous piece. I’ll not be capable of take it residence however experiencing the design of La Rose Carrée and craftsmanship on show can be a spotlight for any fan of Parmigiani.
- Wowza Issue * 9.5 The geometric magnificence is difficult to beat!
- Late Evening Lust Enchantment * 95» 931.632m/s2 The wonder and depth of the enamel over the engraving is sufficient by itself to maintain you up till the wee hours of the morning!
- M.G.R. * 67.5 A 120-year-old grande sonnerie motion that has been restored might be sufficient for many watch nerds to geek out for days!
- Added-Functionitis * Reasonable The grande sonnerie and minute repeater are two of probably the most difficult added capabilities in the marketplace so that you’ll want some extra-strength Gotta-HAVE-That cream for this historic mashup!
- Ouch Define * 10.4 It fell butter facet down! Typically we overlook that emotional ache could be simply as intense, reminiscent of when you find yourself about to chunk into your freshly toasted and buttered morning bagel when it slips out of your fingers and lands butter facet down proper on the carpet. It’s even worse if it was your final bagel and now you could skip half of your breakfast and clear up a multitude. However I can heal from the emotional injury so long as I’ve this gorgeous pocket watch to serenade me!
- Mermaid Second * I like Fibonacci! Geometry nerds will immediately perceive the inspiration for this watch and possibly confess their devotion. I do know I did!
- Superior Whole * 911.2 Begin with the unique Louis-Elisée Piguet caliber quantity (5802) and divide by the diameter of the winding crown (10), then add the variety of parts within the motion (331) to uncover an aesthetically superior whole!
For extra info, please go to parmigiani.com/en/tales/la-rose-carree-parmigianis-paragon.
Fast Info Parmigiani La Rose Carrée
Case: 64 x 20 mm, white gold, double hunter pocket watch, crown set with blue sapphire
Dial: onyx
Motion: manually wound Caliber PF992 (Louis-Elisée Piguet 5802), 32-hour energy reserve, 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz frequency, twin spring barrels
Features: hours, minutes, seconds; grande sonnerie, minute repeater
Limitation: distinctive piece
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